Easywalker MINI Buggy Review by Best Buggy

The Easywalker MINI buggy follows hot on the heels of the Easywalker MINI Stroller. Both pushchairs have been logoed up with the iconic MINI brand badges and the Union Jack flag, to create eye catching, yet superbly stylish modern pushchairs. The Easywalker MINI buggy comes in three colour ways: Blackjack, Union Jack and Pepper White.

First Impressions

As always, the first impression of an Easywalker pushchair was a good one. The Easywalker MINI buggy may be the cheapest and most lightweight of the Easywalker range, but Easywalker have still paid great attention to detail and quality. Everything from the leatherette stitched handles to the thick padded liner, has been carefully created to produce a really luxurious buggy. The Easywalker MINI buggy really stands out from the crowd.

Child Comfort

There is no doubt that any child will be comfortable in the thick padded liner on the Easywalker MINI buggy seat. This buggy is the height of luxury. Little Miss BB who is the ultimate critique loved the comfy seat. Master BB looked very comfortable, and he even crossed his legs – always a good sign that he is comfy.
The padded liner is a work of art on it’s own! We have the Black Jack design and we love the stitched leatherette Union Jack design with the red flashes. There is a detachable head pad at the top of the seat. It is a shame that there are no holes to relocate this lower down for a smaller child.

There is a lift up calf rest, with good locks underneath to keep it upright. At 96cms tall, Master BB is usually at the top end of use for any pushchair – however the MINI Buggy has a massive 20kgs weight limit, thus Master BB is well under this. Master BB could reach the footrest fine, but he prefers to dangle his feet. So lifting the calf rest up, raised his feet up higher from the floor, and also supported his longer legs better under his knees.

The seat reclines through four recline positions, from upright to lie flat. There is a robust squeeze button which is used to adjust the seating position. It is possible to simply push the child back up from a reclined position simply by pushing them upright. Due to the lie flat seating position, the Easywalker MINI Buggy is suitable from birth.

We LOVE that Easywalker have appreciated that there is a size difference between a newborn baby and a 3 year old. They have created a range of harness height and waist holes so that a newborn should be able to be held as securely as a 3 year old in the harness. The harness webbing is soft against a child. The harness is easily adjustable from very short to very long. The shoulder adjusters are hidden behind the thick harness pads which fasten with velcro. The harness pads are fixed at the top of the shoulder straps. The waist straps can be adjusted separately. The buckle is chunky but easy to do. The side and shoulder harness are joined together, which makes it easier to fasten a child in. The two harness pieces fit together like a jigsaw and are then inserted together into the buckle. There is a thickly padded crotch strap cover for the child’s comfort.

Hood and Basket

The Easywalker MINI Buggy hood is stunning to look at. We have the Black Jack design, and the Union Jack is picked out in black leatherette on two panels of the hood. These front two sections have a lock to keep them taut. The rear section has a huge clear peekaboo window, so that it is easy to keep an eye on your child from behind. This also may be a disadvantage if you have a child who would prefer to watch you, than go to sleep! Hidden behind a zip is an additional fabric panel which, when released, makes the hood absolutely enormous. The hood comes right down over the child. There is additional fabric with an elasticated edge at the rear of the pushchair which can be brought down, and tucked around the rear of the seat when reclined to keep a child cosy. The hood pushes right back when required.

The Easywalker MINI Buggy basket is mesh. The basket is typical of the size for an umbrella fold pushchair. Unusually for an umbrella fold pushchair, the basket access is excellent. It was easy to put my medium sized handbag through the back, and into the basket. Reclining the seat will reduce the access, but there is still space at the sides to push items in.As one of our photos show, we found the recline handle a useful place to hang light items (probably not recommended!).

Brake, Handles, Wheels and Handling

The Easywalker MINI Buggy handles are beautifully finished in stitched leatherette. However, they are not very padded and are quite thin. I found them a little uncomfortable. The handles are very low for a buggy – too low for me at 5ft 6ins tall. Officially the handlebars are 103cms high. The MINI design is very appealing to men as well as women, so it is a bit of a shame that the handlebars are too low for taller people to use comfortably.

The MINI Buggy has four pairs of double wheels. These are soft touch plastic wheels which means that the MINI buggy isn’t rattly like most buggies to push. It is very smooth and is lovely to steer. The front pair of wheels are lockable / swivel wheels. There is rear wheel suspension and above each wheel there is a brake pedal. The brake pedals have ridges on which make them look like car brake pedals – a nice detail. The front footrest also has a sporty MINI theme – it has a pattern like a chequered flag on it.

Travel System and Accessories

The Easywalker MINI Buggy is compatible with a number of car seats: Maxi Cosi Cabriofix and Pebble, Cybex Aton, Besafe Izi Go, Nuna Pipa and Kiddy Evolution Pro. Adaptors are sold separately. There is also an optional bumper bar and mosquito net. There is no matching footmuff which is a shame, although the MINI stroller one would be worth trying on, as we suspect it will fit.

A raincover is included with the buggy. This attaches around the rim of the open hood and fastens onto a protruding rivet on each side. The raincover fastens at the bottom by the wheels too. However pulling the raincover down to fasten it, means that the upper part is barely attached onto the hood. Any wind, or a bumpy road, or a good kick, and the raincover will fall off. Our raincover has been altered to make it sit tighter at the top. The lower half of the raincover is black waterpoof fabric. The upper section is clear so that the child can see out.

Fold

The MINI Buggy fold is a typical umbrella fold buggy. To fold, first push your foot up in the centre of the bottom bar between the wheels, or pull up the D ring where the shoulder strap joins. Then step on the small protruding pedal on the right hand side to collapse the chassis. Push the handlebars forwards to the floor until the chassis autolocks. We had a concern because when the stroller is folded there is a folded cross bar which sticks out at an odd angle (see the last two photos). We had to be careful not to get this caught when storing the MINI Buggy.

The Easywalker MINI Buggy weighs 6.5kgs. There is a useful carrying handle on the side of the pushchair, and also an even more useful adjustable shoulder strap! This makes the Easywalker MINI Buggy easy to transport. One advantage of the low handles, is that this the MINI Buggy is quite compact when folded. It is highly unusual for an umbrella fold to fit short ways in our car boot, but the MINI Buggy fits really well.

Unfolding the MINI Buggy is again like any typical umbrella fold. Undo the storage lock, bring the handles upwards and flick the MINI Buggy open. Then press down on the small black semi circular pedal between the wheels, to lock the stroller open.

The shoulder strap is fitted at the top between the handles using two velcro tabs. These can be undone if the strap is in the way. However, we can not see a way to detach the strap at the bottom. There is a rubber shoulder pad on the storage strap for the comfort of the adult. When unfolding the pushchair, make sure that the shoulder strap isn’t wrapped around the handlebars, as you have to then fold the pushchair and start again.

In Conclusion

The Easywalker MINI Buggy is the most luxurious umbrella fold buggy which we have used, and is absolutely worth the £189.99 price tag (£174.99 for the Blue Union Jack one). The quality and attention to detail are superb. The Union Jack theme will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but hopefully Easywalker will follow up this gorgeous buggy with some other designs. All the elements we need in a buggy are there – easy to fold, comfortable seat, big hood, raincover, lift up calf rest, well placed footrest, basket with good access etc. The only negative we have is that the handles are very low and thin, although they are beautifully finished. However low handles will be an advantage for some, and they did help to create a more compact fold which may fit into a smaller car.
We have absolutely no hesitation in handing the Easywalker MINI Buggy our top 5 gold star Best Buggy rating.